Vacation Part 2: Story Land

Yesterday we returned home from the second part of our "end of Summer" vacation, this time traveling north to Story Land! It was so fun, we also got to hit up Pirates Cove again for some more mini-golfing and swam in the HUGE outdoor pool at the place we stayed!

At Pirates Cove the first night!




Swimming in the indoor pool:




Pirates Cove Round 2:

David showing Thomas how to play!


The whole family!


Pirates! Arrrgh!


Story Land was a blast. David was tall enough to ride all the rides, Shaun missed the cut off by 1". Oh well, next time! He still had lots of fun though and they were all on their best behavior, even Evan who slept for pretty much the entire time. The only thing that would have made the day better was if it was about 10 degrees cooler!!

Merry-Go-Round


Sharing a refreshing slush


David and Daddy get ready to ride the Polar Coaster


David on the Bamboo Chutes with Daddy!


Shaun taking Daddy for a spin!


Evan enjoying the day after his nap!


Story Land Family Picture!


End of the day, one last picture with Humpty Dumpty per David's request!

Another Pound Gone...

and TWO more to go (to reach my first goal anyway)!!



Last Week: 168.4
This Week: 167.2
Wk 10 Loss: 1.2 lbs
Total Loss: 18.2 lbs

I thought for sure that I would be posting my second gain this week, after some serious cheating that went down while on Cape Cod. When I checked after returning home I was up TWO pounds, so you can imagine my surprise this morning when I stepped on the scale to show a ONE pound loss! I worked pretty hard and I owe a lot of my success this week to the Doc. After seeing some pictures of myself from vacation I realized I still have a LONG way to go. And I felt discouraged and for a split second started to feel a sense of hopelessness.



I discussed my discouragement to him, and how I hated the way I looked in our trip pictures. He reminded me to remember what I looked like 10 weeks ago and how far I have already come. He reminded me to think about all the changes I have made since I started this journey and how these changes have given me more energy, which is a big deal since Evan is still up a few times each night to nurse. He told me to think about how I now fit into my size 12 jeans, how much I have already lost and reminded me to look at this picture again:



It was all I needed to hear to push those discouraging thoughts out of my head and re-motivate myself! He is committed to living a healthy lifestyle as well (heck, he's currently training for a half-marathon right now!) so there is really no excuse for me, so I also owe a lot of my success to him too!! It would so easy to cheat, or give up all together, if he wasn't doing it right along with me!!!

Vacation Part 1: Cape Cod

The IL's rent a cabin each year down on Cape Cod and so we packed up the boys and spent Saturday and Sunday down there. While down there it is tradition to play some mini-golf at Pirates Cove. David started when he was 2, and now that Shaun is 2, he was able to join in the fun!


David and Shaun by the cannon


The BIG Pirate ship!


Evan fell asleep!


Our annual family picture with the Pirate!


Sunday, we were supposed to go on an Ice Cream Social Boat Cruise, but the weather was iffy and they cancelled the trip. Since it was only cloudy we decided to take the boys mini-golfing again. They have a lot of fun playing and it was too cold and windy to hit the beach. We tried a new place called with lots of animal statues. Unfortunately it started to rain by the hole 16 so we packed it up.



Golf Pro!


After we loaded up in the car we grabbed some umbrellas and headed over to a Touch a Truck fair that was going on in town. The rain wasn't too bad at that point and the boys really wanted to check it out.

A school bus!


Bus Driver Shaun


Motorcycle Riding David!


We finished the day at Katie's Homemade Ice Cream Shop! BEST. ICE. CREAM. EVER! I got the white pistachio, the Doc got the Cape Cod Mud (which was a coffee based ice cream!) and the boys got cookie dough in a bowl with sugar cones on top! The ice cream was so creamy and they didn't skimp on the pistachios!



We are looking forward to finishing off the summer with our last vacation, this time we are headed north to take the boys to Story Land! David will end up missing his first day of school, but I was under the wrong impression that he was going to start AFTER Labor Day so his first day of school will be Sept 1st!

So Close...

I am so close to my first weight loss goal, 3.4 pounds away to be exact. I am down 17 pounds in 9 weeks.


Last Week: 169.8
This Week: 168.4
Wk 9 Loss: 1.4 lbs
Total Loss: 17 lbs

I am thankful to my Biggest Loser ladies for helping me stay on track and keeping me accountable. I am also thankful to everyone who has posted support on here. It keeps me motivated! Of course it doesn't hurt that I now fit in my pre-pregnancy clothes. Knowing that the next time I buy a new pair of jeans is because my old ones are too BIG instead of too SMALL is such an amazing feeling.

Summer Time Fun!

I know my blog posts have been a little egocentric lately but I am trying to make a point of taking care of myself. After all, if there is one thing I have learned from being a mother it's, a happy Mommy = a happy family! So because of that I have slacked a little this summer with posting about the boys. So without further ado...

We have had a very productive summer, spending time at the beach, my parents camp, swimming at Sally's with our friends, and catching some of the fun at the local parks! We also spent some time up in Maine and will end with a trip up north to Storyland!

The boys up at the camp hanging out at the pool:


Evan's first time in the pool! The sun was REALLY bright that day!


Evan is growing like a weed! I am very curious to see where he is at when he goes for his four month check up in September. As I mentioned before, I set up Mii characters on our Wii Fit Plus, and it now has him at 17 1/2 pounds.

Here is Evan enjoying some R&R at the park on one of the gorgeous days last week:


David will starting his second year at Happy Day Pre-school. This year he will be going three days a week on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays. He is very exciting to be going back. I just ordered his backpack and I ordered his first day of school outfit.

David showing off the robot he built all by himself! These blocks were from Brady and Cameron for his birthday and he LOVES them!


And last but not least...Shaun! He has the biggest news of the summer, as of four days ago he has been Binky free! It started Monday night with an early bedtime (cranky and overtired) and we had taken it away because he refused to eat his dinner. I ended up putting him to bed without and he was SO tired he fell asleep. I thought for sure it was going to be the FIRST thing he asked for when he woke up the next morning, but he didn't. In fact, he didn't ask for it once. So I decided to roll with it.

We spent the day at my parents house and got back home around 8pm. He had fallen asleep on the ride home and so we put him to bed for the second night in a row without it. He did ask for it but he was so tired Daddy just rubbed his back and he fell asleep. Wednesday morning was the hardest. He woke up on the wrong side of the bed and was CAH-RANKY. When he would ask I told him "No, they are all gone!" He screamed and had a fit but I would hug him and redirect him. It seemed to work OK but I wasn't going back at this point. So after some time at the park he snapped out of his cranky mood and I haven't heard him talk about it since! It's like he has forgotten all about it and therefore the "B" word is not to be mentioned around him until he goes to college!

One of the last times with the binky!


Shaun has also turned into quite the fish! We are currently looking into swimming lessons for both the boys! I think they will have fun and it's a pretty valuable skill to have!


I am looking forward to fall and getting back into our routine, summer tends to be a little bit lazy around here. I am also looking forward to fall weather, apple picking and the smell of chimney smoke on those crisp late fall evenings. And who could forget the best part of fall...FOOTBALL! Now that we have Direct TV back, I am trying to convince the Doc that it's imperative we get Sunday Ticket! GO PATS!

Goodbye 170's!

I did it! I reached my week 8 goal and said goodbye to the 170's! And here is to NEVER seeing them again!



Last week: 170.7
This week: 169.8
Wk 8 Loss: 0.9
Total Loss: 15.6 lbs (8.41% of my body weight!)

I am still committed to the Shred. Today was my last day on level 2 and tomorrow I'll be giving level 3 a go. I am a little nervous because level 2 is still really hard but I have to keep pushing myself in order to get the results I want. I am already seeing a difference in my arms and waist. I have 4.8 pounds to go in order to reach my first weight loss goal. There are 4 weeks left in my Biggest Loser competition, which means I need to lose 1.2 pounds each week to make my goal weight! I think I can, I think I can...

Noticeable Change!

I promised myself at the beginning of this weight loss journey that I would hold myself accountable. It is one of the reasons I have been so successful. However, part of being accountable means that if I have a bad week, I need to post it. It is what is going to keep me honest. So here it is, my first Biggest Loser gain in 7 weeks. It wasn't a huge gain but it was still a gain none the less.



Last week: 170.3
This week: 170.7
Wk 7 Loss: +.4
Total Loss: 14.7 lbs

Still not bad, but I can no longer "officially" say that I am down 15 lbs. On the plus side, though, I was able to wear those size 12 capri jeans out in PUBLIC! So I may have gained some weight but since doing the 30 Day Shred I am seeing significant NOTICEABLE change. One of the areas that is the most noticeable is the arm fat underneath my shoulder area! I plan to take a picture to document the change because that, in all honesty, is what motivates me the most. SEEING results! My weight is just a number and while my goal for Friday is to say goodbye to the 170's, and I do want to keep seeing the number go down, being able to fit in my old clothes again was a HUGE boost in confidence and motivation!

Happy FOURTH Birthday David!

David is FOUR! It just doesn't seem possible!! Happy Birthday little buddy!



At his party on Saturday singing Happy Birthday!


Mommy, Daddy & the Birthday Boys!

Evan: 3 Months

Today is the first of the month which also means that Baby Evan is another month older! He is still the best. He is so chunky and happy, he has the fattest thighs I have ever seen on a newborn! Now if only he'd start growing UP instead of OUT!

One of the added features to the Wii Fit PLUS is called Baby Stats. So I created Mii's for all the boys and they can now be measured. David is old enough to do it himself, but Shaun and Evan need to be held by an adult. Yesterday I measured Evan and according to the Wii he is 16.5 pounds! YIKES! No wonder I am having trouble carrying him in the infant carrier.

Here is Chunk at 3 months in 6 month jammies!


I just about died when I saw these jammies at Target yesterday! I tend to joke about how Evan is my favorite, so this was absolutely perfect!

Anyway, as I mentioned before, since Evan is our last baby (unless, according to David we have a MISTAKE) these milestones are a little tougher. I imagine it will be that way until he is potty trained and I am no longer changing poopy diapers. Ha! So I thought it would be fun to compare all three boys at three months. I think that all three boys look the same while looking totally different! If you know what I mean!

David at 3 Months Old:


Shaun at 3 Months Old:


Evan at 3 Months Old:


I also think it's funny how Evan's small head gives a deceiving perception of his chunk compared to Shaun. Shaun was a fat baby too, but Evan is fatter! Evan just carries around a spare tire while Shaun's chunk was proportioned to his height! And on that note I am off to go put some money into their therapy funds!